2012 racing schedule,the good the bad and the ugly.Chasing dreams in the peloton

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Monday, February 28, 2011

came and went

I want to say thanks to those that sent me well wishes via e-mail and blog.

My pain fortunately ended up being some type of a pulled ass muscle ? It went away after 2 days rest and anti inflammatory. It is the first time ever that an anti inflammatory actually worked well and quickly for me.

Got to pick up the new bike on Saturday. It was even more awesome than the first time I saw it.
Road Sunday's club ride with OC Velo. Patrick and I hooked up and rode down to meet the rest of the crew that would show up. Sunday rides are spotty it seems, but because of the lack of a Saturday ride about a dozen people turned out.
I new from the very beginning it would be a faster than normal paced Sunday ride. Our out tempo was about 20-22 mph and it really should be about 18-19 mph.
That part didn't matter one bit to me as I just wanted to ride.
But as the ride kept progressing I did notice some unsafe issues going on in the group. I'm new to the club so I kept my distance from the once I didn't feel safe around. We mixed in some fast interval pace lines and a few normal climbs that are on this ride.
At one time we had a 7 man organized group climbing a couple mile straight away and we paced it at 22 mph. It was pretty flawless. If you have every had the chance to climb a decent grade where everyone is in sync and pulling it is pretty amazing.

Again I ran in to an old friend of mine before we headed out. In fact this is the same guy that got me into cycling when I was 18 years old. He was kind of on a babble fest, but it was great to see him. It had literally been over a decade. He was a room mate of mine for awhile and was even in my wedding party of my first marriage.
This guy was a hard charging local bike racer and raced on a national level sponsored by Schwinn. This is back when Schwinn still had a strong program. We worked our normal jobs and I got the privilege to train with him on a regular basis.There was never a shortage of cycling talent at these rides.I won't throw names out there, but I can say some went on to Olympic status and Junior national titles.
He is also the 1st person I had ever meet that not only had done a triathlon, but an Ironman. This was back when M-DOT's where not really the envy of athletes. But only for the insane. I'm glad times have changed.

He started spouting about "COMO" street rides we used to do and kind of embarrassed the crap out of me about strength and power I possessed on the bike.
I would really rather let that sleeping dog stay laying down. I don't have that strength anymore and these are a bunch of people I don't even know.
Now I'm either going to be looked at like, hey wheres that strength and power? or that I was just a poser and never had it ?
I always say things happen for a reason. I have been recently pressed by another friend of mine to get back out there and be competitive on the bike. And then this ghost shows up. It has to be some type of sign.
I'm truly trying to ride and run back into shape, but it takes some time.
Come March I will be doing some midweek evening local crit racing and I will see if I can bring some heat in the masters division. Or at least get back into some sort of strong riding shape.
I won't take my eye off the run and swim, I still have a few triathlons and a couple more running races I want to compete in this year.
I don't want to be a one dimensional sport person. Plus I like the training for all. But I do have to face the fact that although I have a decent swim capability, I am an average at best runner.
So I'll do triathlons and focus on my weaknesses and enjoy the heck out of it.
And I'll get some miles in on the bike and improve on my strength. No matter how I slice it, it beets the crap out of sitting on the couch and turning into an ageing middle aged, over weight sloth.

Big shout out to http://www.theroadmultisport.com/ he is racing an Oly this weekend. The first of the year for him. He is looking solid and I suspect he is going to be a force this weekend.
He is looking sharp and ready. I'm sure this doesn't surprise anyone.

Dude, I'm a has-been competitive cyclist too (MTB) so I know exactly how you're feeling. Keep yourself surrounded by those strong riders and you will quickly be just as good. That's exciting about the road race - I'd love to try one some day. In the meantime I'm gonna live vicariously through you instead lol. I need a road bike, but not until next year.